There’s never been a better time to add HBO Max to your DISH subscription. No, like, literally: DISH subscribers can add HBO Max to their subscription for just $12 per month for one year. You’ll also have access to multiple HBO channels on DISH that you can watch live and On Demand.
To help new HBO Max subscribers get the most out of the streaming platform, we put together this list of 12 new shows and movies coming to the service in May. To sign up for this special, limited-time offer, click here.
Hacks
Starring: Jean Smart, Hannah Einbinder, Carl Clemons-Hopkins
Hacks was one of the first critical smashes on HBO Max, and the series—which is about an aging stand-up comedienne who enlists a young comedy writer to help keep her relevant—won three Emmys® for its first season, including “Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.” Its second season will continue to explore the “dark mentorship” between Deborah Vance (Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder), as the pair “travel across the country workshopping Deborah’s new stand-up act.”
Premiere Date: Thursday, May 12 on HBO Max
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Starring: Rose Leslie, Theo James, Desmin Borges
Based on the acclaimed novel by Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler’s Wife is an intricate and magical love story between Clare and Henry, who are in a marriage with a problem…time travel. Steven Moffat of Dr. Who and Sherlock handles the adaptation.
Premiere Date: Sunday, May 15 on HBO and HBO Max
The Staircase
Starring: Colin Firth, Toni Collette, Rosemarie DeWitt
As those who have seen the riveting docuseries know, the real life story behind The Staircase is almost too incredible to believe: A successful crime novelist becomes a murder suspect after his wife is found dead. The new HBO Max series is a dramatized account of the events and in addition to its award-winning leads, the stacked cast includes Juliette Binoche, Parker Posey, and Sophie Turner.
Premiere Date: Thursday, May 5 on HBO Max
The Flight Attendant
Starring: Kaley Cuoco, Zosia Mamet, Rosie Perez
The second season of HBO Max’s breakout hit takes the comedy, mystery, and style of the show’s first season and packages it in an all-new whodonit, as the newly sober Cassie (Cuoco) finds herself mixed up in yet another murder. The new story means you don’t need to have seen the first season to understand the show, so there’s no excuse for not climbing aboard.
Premiere Date: Episodes 1-4 are now available, new episodes every Thursday through May 26 on HBO Max.
Barry
Starring: Bill Hader, Henry Winkler, Stephen Root
One of the most distinct shows on TV, Barry – about a hitman trying to hang up his weapons for a career as an actor – combines absurdist, fish-out-of-water humor with the fingernail-chewing tension of Breaking Bad. That might sound like putting peanut butter on a pizza, but Hader and the universally excellent ensemble somehow pull it off; Henry Winkler in particular is wonderful as Barry’s pretentious and self-absorbed acting coach Gene Cousineau.
Premiere Date: New episodes available Sundays through June 12 on HBO and HBO Max
The Matrix: Resurrections
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
Few film series have done a better job at synthesizing action and big ideas, and the fourth Matrix film could be described as a clever, self-referential sci-fi sequel that’s actually about the idea of sequels. Although it’s difficult to remember a more polarizing movie in recent memory, everyone can agree that for whatever its faults, The Matrix: Resurrections doesn’t lack ambition.
Premiere Date: Tuesday, May 10 on HBO and HBO Max
Old
Starring: Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Rufus Sewell
The setting and premise for Old is so simple and compelling, it’s surprising no one used it sooner: A remote beach where time passes faster, causing everyone on it to rapidly age. Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan has a lot of fun exploring this idea from a variety of angles— what would happen if someone got pregnant?—while maintaining his signature twist ending.
Premiere Date: Friday, May 13 on HBO and HBO Max
Dear Evan Hansen
Starring: Ben Platt, Julianne Moore, Amy Adams
Ben Platt reprises his Tony award-winning role for this film adaptation of the 2015 Best Musical winner. Evan Hansen is a high school senior with Social Anxiety disorder and is on a journey of self-discovery and acceptance following the suicide of a fellow classmate.
Premiere Date: Friday, May 6 on HBO and HBO Max
That Damn Michael Che
Starring: Michael Che, Cecily Strong, Heidi Gardner
Michael Che—stand-up comic and longtime co-anchor of “Weekend Update” on SNL—returns to HBO Max for the second season of his sketch comedy show. As you may have guessed from his style on “Weekend Update,” Che is not afraid to go there, mixing provocative topical jokes with a healthy dose of cringe comedy. Che’s sense of humor may not be for everyone, but if you like him on SNL, there’s plenty to love here.
Premiere Date: May on HBO Max
George Carlin’s American Dream (Documentary)
Speaking of provocative stand-up comics, George Carlin was one of the icons of the genre. In fact, there’s a solid case to be made that Carlin, to more politically-minded comedians, is the single-most influential stand-up. This new two-part documentary was co-directed by Judd Apatow, who also helmed the brilliant, Emmy®-winning The Zen Diaries of Gary Shandling.
Premiere Date: May on HBO and HBO Max
PAUSE with Sam Jay
SNL writer Sam Jay is pushing the “talk-show” format to new places with her show PAUSE with Sam Jay, which returns for its second season in May. The show explores topical, often contentious ideas in a way that feels more conversational than confrontational. That has a lot to do with Jay’s style, which is simultaneously sardonic and sincere.
Premiere Date: Friday, May 20 on HBO and HBO Max
Mecha Builders
Lastly, HBO Max is quickly becoming a premiere source for children’s programming. Not only is it the exclusive streaming home to Sesame Street, but HBO is developing Sesame Workshop spin-off specials and series as well. That includes Mecha Builders, a new “preschool animated series” that “reimagines Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Abby Cadabby as robot heroes in training who use their STEM superpowers to solve wacky larger-than-life problems.”
Premiere Date: Tuesday, May 10 on HBO Max
